Marking systems for game cards, such as instant lottery tickets and extended instant lottery games, such as Bingo and Crossword games, for example, are designed to allow a player to mark previously or currently called or played numbers, letters, or other indicia, and thereby distinguish them from uncalled or unplayed indicia. For example, if a Bingo game card includes five numbers associated with each letter in the word “Bingo”, and the player's card contains the first called letter-number combination, such as “B-1”, for example, a marking system would permit the player to somehow mark the “B-1” indicia on his or her card to show that it had been called and, thus, would be out of play. For validation purposes, it is important that the game indicia not be entirely spoiled or removed so that the card or ticket can be read if and when the player claims to have a winning card.
One of the most primitive marking systems involves the use of a pen or other writing implement to physically mark through or scratch over the called indicia. Others have developed more advanced marking systems, but these systems still suffer from disadvantages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,815 to Pollard discloses the use of a removable translucent material which allows viewing of the symbols (i.e., Bingo numbers) printed below the material. When the removable layer is removed, the underlying layer is “visually distinct”. This marking system utilizes a single translucent layer. Materials like frosted glass and some plastics are translucent. When light strikes a translucent material, only some of the light passes through them. The light does not pass directly through the materials. It changes direction and is scattered as it passes through. The Pollard patent discloses the use of translucent material in a way where the “number is visible through the layer” in addition to coloring the translucent layer to provide for the visual distinction when removed. The Pollard patent further discloses a colored layer provided over the substrate of the game card and underneath the translucent coating, which enables a player to see a visual distinction between portions of the colored layer that remain under the coating and portions of the colored layer where the coating has been removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,860 to Holman, et al., (“Holman”) discloses the printing of a clear transparent layer which is removable and covered by a transparent colored layer made of a non-scratch off material. Removal of the clear transparent layer in turn removes the colored layer. The Holman marking solution utilizes multiple transparent layers. When light encounters transparent materials, almost if not all of it passes directly through the materials. Glass, for example, is transparent to all visible light. The color of a transparent object depends on the color of light it transmits. If green light passes through a transparent object, the emerging light is green; but, if the transparent layer is colored it will still allow the light to pass through, albeit with an emerging color that has been visibly changed.
The marking systems of Pollard and Holman can be difficult and expensive to implement. Further, the above are limited in their application of multiple colors or shades, appealing designs and security measures to cards or tickets, and permit the underlying indicia to be displayed with only a limited degree of sharpness and clarity. In addition, the prior art does not employ symbols, letters, words or other designs that are uniquely related to the theme of the game being played. Further, the prior art does not employ security marks that are difficult to reproduce.